Wire curling apparatus and method



Dec. 28, 1948. I F. D. MORAN 2,457,705

WIRE CURLING APPARATUS AND METHOD Filed July 19, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 "H I I Dec. 28,1948 D, M A 2,457,705 WIRE CURLING APPARATUS AND METHOD Filed July 19, 1944 2 Shets-Sheet 2 Patented Dec. 28, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WIRE CURLINGL APPARATUS AND'METHOD Francis, D. Moran, Downers, Grove, Ill.

Application-July 19, 1944; Serial No. 545,556

5,. Claims;

My invention relates to an improved. methodand apparatus. for. producing curled, wire of: the type used for theproduction of metal cleaning sponges and the like. 7

In" the known art, relatively flat wire has; been bent continuously over a curling edge in. such a manner as to. produce a. helix, adapted for the production of? a cleaning sponge and the like. The curling edge employed has comprised; a straight edge formedby. the-junction ofi twoplane surfaces. The combination of" which the straight edge formed a part generally-has functioned. in one of two ways. In accordance with, one method, the wire was maintained in. a taut condition on both sides of the straightedgegu and in another method, such as illustrated. in. my Patent No. 2,196,076, the wire was maintained in a taut condition in advance of thestraight edge but was drawn over the straight edge by'a. friction roller which itself was in contact with. the

straight edge so. that the wire, after passing the straight edge, was: permitted to curl: immediately. The latter method possesses several advantages over the former, particularly in. the ability to-pro-. duce an open curl the openness of which may be readily controlled, and in the ability to operate relatively continuously without breakage of thewire during manufacture. The latter method,

however, has the disadvantage that excessive.

prove the method of and apparatusfor producing flat curled wire. Another obi ectis to produce a curled'wi-re prod:

not which is much less brittle than curled wire heretofore produced and which will, therefore, be

more resistant to breaking than such previously produced wire.

I have found that by substituting; a curling" curve for a, curling edge, as will be more fully. described hereinafter, and employing such curling curve in a combination of] the type, disclosed it is possible tocontinuously produce curled wire without the attendant disadvantages. of prior methods and apparatus and also that, the curled Wire is less brittle an much m re resistanto breakage than curled wire heretofore produced. My inventiom. therefore. has two. distinct: aspe ts.

namely; the utilizationot a urlingzcur e pl ce of. a. curling ed e; and; the ccmhinatiorrof: such i isben-t over its entire width and the entire-cross section of. the wire has been subjected to work of a character to change its metallurgical structure andzhence toiembrittle it. The curling curve also has: the advantage that the wire is easily maintained on'it even when it passes over the curling curve at other than a right angle thereto; while the fiatwire in process of; being curved does not; readily maintainits: position on a straight edge unless there are channels or guides for the flat wire close to the said curling edge. Because the curve islgenerally concave, the flat wire engages the curling curve primarily at the edges, the center part of the wire engaging the curling, curve only lightly, it at all. Since the center of the. wire is less worked bythe-tool than the edges, it is less brittle and thedecreased brittleness of a portion of the wire is, suflicient to inhibit break wire to prevent tearing the same but it is not sufficiently rounded to minimize the bending action which, is required in order to effect the. necesar-y curl. Whatever the specific shape of the curling curve, its concave character is such as: to assist in maintaining the wire. in contact therewith.

The: curling curve may be modified in several features. of the present invention having to do with preventing breakage. The curling curve may be formed by the junction of a plane surface and curved surfaceor by the junction oftwo curved surfaces so brought together as to form a junction, which is concaveand slightly rounded.

A. practical curling tool of this tyne may be thought of as a hole drilled at right angles through a flat plate with the edges slightly rounded-L Such a curling tool may be modified by drilling the hole at an angle through ness. of the. curl. Thec-urve, which can be:

thought of as-resultingfrom a hole drilled diagoe nally in a flat plate, has an advantage over a J straight drilled hole in thatzinthe diagonally pro! The amount. one edge duced curve the wire can lie relatively flat in the hole or on a curve comprising a section of such hole.

An open curl can also be produced by bending one edge of the flat wire more than its opposite edge or, indeed, by bending only one edge of the wire. When the wire is curled in this manner, it is not essential that it be bent diagonally, although the wire, if desired, can be bent only along one edge and diagonally at such edge instead of straight. One way of bending the wire only along one edge or to a greater extent only along one edge than the other is to vary the pressure across the Width thereof. Still another method is to engage one edge of the Wire continuously over a curling curve and the other edge of the wire over a rounded surface formed on a sufficiently large radius so that it has little, if any, bending action on the wire. A curling tool of the latter type may be formed by producing a curling curve and setting it at an angle partially into the outside surface of a cylinder, one edge of the wire engaging the curling curve and the other engaging the said cylinder.

The curling tools and methods of utilizing the same discussed hereinabove are all based on the utilization of a curling curve as contrasted with a curling edge of the type heretofore employed. The curling tool comprising'such curling curve is preferably utilized in a combination wherein a resilient pad is employed to hold the wire against the curling tool and the wire is drawn across the curling tool, the wire being taut at that portion thereof between the curling tool and the drawing means employed but definitely slack between the source of supply of the wire and the curling tool.

I have discussed the curling tool generally here- 'inabove in order that those skilled in the art may understand the general features of the invention fully, it being remembered that the wire which is sought to be curled in accordance with my present invention is only about .001 inch in thickness and approximately .020 inch in width. I do not limit myself to the practice of my invention with wire of this particular dimension but these figures will illustrate the fact that the dimensions of the curling tool are relatively small and that the drawings showing the same are necessarily somewhat schematic and greatly enlarged.

Additional objects and features of the invention will be brought out in the following detailed description taken with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view partly in section showing the apparatus of my present invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective view showing the curling tool and the flat wire;

Fig. 3 is a plan view thereof with the resilient pad removed;

Fig. 4 is an elevational view with a portion of the resilient pad in section, the view being taken substantially along the line 4-4 of Fig. 3 looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4 looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged schematic view indicating the manner in which the wire is affected by the operations shown in Figs. 1 to 5, inclusive;

Fig. '7 is a perspective view showing a modified form of curling tool;

Fig. 8 is a side elevational view of the embodiment of Fig. 7 with the wire in section at the point where it passes over the curling curve;

Fig. 9 is a transverse sectional View taken on the line 99 of Fig. '7;

Fig. 10 is an enlarged plan view of the embodimerit of Fig. '7 with the resilient pad removed, the fiat wire being shaded to indicate the action thereon;

Fig. 11 is a perspective view showing still another modification;

Figs. 12 and 13 are sectional views taken on the lines I2-l2 and Iii-i3, respectively, of Fig. 11;

Fig. 14 is a perspective view showing still another modification;

Fig. 15 is an enlarged schematic view indicating the manner in which the wire is affected by the operation shown in Fig. 14; and

Fig. 16 shows a still further modification of the curling tool.

Before describing the curling tool and the variations thereof, I shall describe the combination of apparatus illustrated in Fig. l. A flat Wire 2i is drawn over a curling tool 22 by a pair of traction rollers 23 and 24 between which the wire is gripped and from which it is discharged in the form of a curled mass 26. A pad 2'! holds the wire resiliently against the curling tool and the pressure of the pad against the curling tool is controlled by a screw 28. The pad 21 has the function of bending the wire about the curling tool as will be described and I have found that a resilient pad formed, for example, of rubber, is suitable for the purpose.

One desirable manner of producing a fiat wire for fabricating cleaning sponges is to pass a round drawn wire between a pair of flattening rollers 29 and 3|. The flattening rollers may be operated at constant speed calculated to be the same as the speed at which the traction rollers 23 and 24 operate so that the flattened wire will be delivered to the tool at the same speed at which it is removed therefrom and adequate slack will be.

maintained between the flattening rollers and the curling tool in the general manner shown in the drawings. Suitable means is provided, however, to vary the speed of one or the other to maintain the necessary slack. In the drawings I illustrate one simple expedient in which electrical contact bars 32 and 33 are disposed above and below the wire 2i, these contact bars being electrically connected to suitable speed change mechanism contained in a housing 34. Within the same housing is a drive mechanism for drivin a sprocket gear 36 which in turn drives a chain 31 and gear train, as shown, to drive the two rollers 23 and 24. By means of mechanism known in the art, the speed of the gear 38 is increased slightly when the wire 2! comes in contact with the contact bar 33 and the speed is slightly reduced when the wire 2| comes in contact with the contact bar 32. Thus, slack may be retained in the wire to maintain it at a position intermediate the contact bars 32 and 33.

Quite apart from the matter of the construction of the curling tool, the combination of Fig. 1 possesses certain advantages. Because the resilient pad 21 performs no driving function, it may be lubricated at the place where it contacts the curling tool so that the resistance occasioned by the passage of the wire between the curling tool and the pad is decreased. This reduces wear on the pad andsuch wear may be distributed by moving the pad transversely of the curling tool to present a fresh area continuously to the surface of the wire by suitable means not shown. Less Work is required to curl the wire than is required in other methods and with other apparatus with which I am familiar.

I stated hereinabove that the showing of Fig.

gamma 1: is; portlw schematic, the view being-s pr ncip llu illustrative andi, containing: no more structure than is necessary for an understanding of theinyention. 1' wishgtol point out particularly that the: relative sizes-v of the partisans notv accurate, therwire and curling tool, particularly; being rel! atively. out: of proportion. It. should be; borne in mind. that: while the drawings indicate that themesilientpad' 2 1i is: shaped at its lower edgeto) engage both sides of the curling edge, the; fact: is: that the pad may be perfectly flat: across the bottom and it takes its shape by being deformedi duo. pressure against: the curling-tool. For best. operation; of the traction rollers: 231: and 24m, one is: preferably made of hard rubber: and theother: of semr-sofit rubber but any suitable traction means: may, of? course. be employed; The curling tool? 22 may. comprise any one of the; modifications; shown in the remaining figures.

The; curling tool. indicated? in: Figs. 2;: to. 5i.. in c1usi-ve;,is: Off the type referred to hereinabotel which: can. he: considered. as; formed bydrilling: a: small. hole;- diagonally. through a flat. plate. Since. only a portion: of" the. hole isutilized: in the. actual curling operation; the curling curve portion. of; the curling tool? comprises onlya portion: of the circumference of the: postulated. drill: hole; The partsara greatlyrmagnified. as will be. understood; from the fact. that: a. drill hole. of .125 inch. diameter is adequate for the;- purpose of bond. ing a wire; which: is .020: inch; wide andithe curb. ingt curve; shown in: Figs; 2 to; 5, inclusiue, may be considered; as comprising a. section of-"such: a. hole;

The curling tool comprises: a fiat section 4tof steel or; the. like; alongftheatco tace oftwhichais a. diagonally disposed shallow slot. 42 of arcuate shape; flatsection. 41' is: placed: at anangle withresnect to-the flat. wire. t2 I; so thatit engages. only: one ed e-.- of. the shallow" slot: 42; that. is to. 5 33.613.92 edge or curve. formed, by the. juncture oft. the shallow arcuate slot: 42 and? the. forward? face or: surface; or the section. 4 l.=. This juncture. which hale heretoforecalled the curling curve is rounded only enough to avoid tearing of the Wire so that in effect a sharp bend is imparted to. the. wire. as it passes. over the. curling, curve asindicated in Fig. 5. Fig. 4. shows. however, that only the edges of the wire engage the curling curve, the result being that the center portion of, the wire is not appreciably changed in metallurgical structure while along the sides: bands Ill-e of deformed metah are pltq ziuced which cause the wire to curl in. the desired; mane 1161!: results in, longitudinal orientation of crystals, the: effect. ofsthe sharp bending; al ne the i103 break; up such, crystals, and. produce; a,v stnuc, tuicwhich, while producing; the. curl neuerthe" less, stiil produces a brittle: area. The center portion, ofthe wire, however, is; not embrittl'ed sothairthe wire as a whole will. not readily hrealg. since the wirespasses the curling curve diagonally, the: sharp bending and resulting crystal d-efvormar tiorr is; at. an angle as indicated by theshaded lines Fig; 6. This causes the: wire toucurl openly, that is, in the form of a helix and the angle of the shade lines in Fig. 6 representing the angle at which the fiat wire passed over the curling curve will determine the openness of the curl.

It will be recalled that the open curl or the helix form of curl may be produced by bending the wire more along one edge than at the opposite edge and that this can be brought about Since any method of producing thewire f either by. exerting;- greater pressureagainst the wire: on. one edge than at: the; other orby: sha rv ing. the curling curve to cause a differential bending. Figs. 71 to 13,, inclusive, disclose this feature: and; reference will be made first to Figs. 7 to 10-; inclusive, in which the differential bend? ing of; the wire is. caused by applying greater. pressure to; onesideI oi thewire than the other. The curlingtool utilized in Figs. 7. to 10, inclusive, comprises. a flat: section 43 of metal orthelike at the: edgeofwhich a generally arcuate slot 44; isvinternupted by a shoulder 46 defininga straight edgeagainst which one edge of the flat wire 22!." is adapted to engage. The section ca. is carried in the same manner as the section 4] (see also the generally indicated tool-22) so: thatv the wireZ-Zl engages only one edge of the; slot 44? in the manner indicated in Fig. 9. The resilient pad 21 engages directly downwardly tot hold. the wire frictionally against the, curling; curve; but, as shown clearly in Fig, 8, the shoulder 46 defining the straight edge prevents the :resilient pad. from applying any appreciable pressureto that edge of the wire which is in con-v tact withthe-said shoulder, while the pad freely and firmly. engages the opposite edge of the wire to produce a sharply bent portion along the edgethereof asindicated bythe shaded section 22|-aof Fig. 10. Pressure; against one side only of the fiat wire22l: would normally tend to cause the wire to-shift sideways in the arcuate slot defining, the curling curve, but the shoulder interposed; at one side of the curling; curve prevents the: wirefromv shifting sideways in the manner suggested.

InFigs. 1 1 to 13, inclusive, I show a modified: form; ofthe invention. wherein the shape of the curling tool causes the wire to be bent. more sharply along one edge than the other. In this. form of the invention, a flat section 47 has its. top surface finished: to, form a curling" curve 423 interrupted at approximately the normal cen,-. ter line. thereot. by a rounded portion: 49'. I The portio 4Q. be, considered as a portion of a. cylinder. into. which the curling curve 48 is para tially Set/ 50:1 that one. side edge off-the fiat wire en ages over the; curling; curve in the nianne1 illustrated. iIhFig. 12 while. the other side of the wire enga es the fractional portion of cylinderds as indicated. Fig. 13. As. in the remaining;

ifigures. the center oi} the; wire is substantiallyunafiectedcbg the bending;- action, and the bent. area will approximate that indicated by the shaded portion. 22l-a of Fig. 10;. In Figs. 11 1 3,. inclusive, the numeral 32! is applied; to the: wire to. indicate the; third modification. I wish; top ntfcut, however, that in many respects the term; of, curling toold-isclosed in Figs..].-1 to. 1;}. inclusive/is the-preferred form of invention so far as. actual: construction of the curling tool; it elf is concerned.

- Referring back to. the previousembodiments- I have shown that: an open curl may be imparted tothe wine by engaging both. edges. of the; flat wire against the curling curve while; passing, wi-rcover thecurling curve diagonora-lternatiuely bypassing the wire oyer. the curling; curve at right angles. to the sur ace; of the curling tool, the curling curve being shaped in such a manner, however, as to bend the wire more along one edge than the other. Figs. 6 and 10 indicate the results of these two methods. I find, however, that it is also possible to combine these two features to treat a wire 4.2l in such a manner as to produce a bending action such as indicated by the shaded area 42l-a of Fig. 15. It will be noted that the shaded lines indicating the angle of bending are diagonal, but that they extend only to an area along one edge of the wire. In this form of the invention, the section is provided with an edge slot 52 running across the top edge of the section 5|, substantially identical with that shown in Fig. 11, but the wire is drawn over the curling curve diagonally instead of straight as in the previously described embodiment.

Fig. 16 shows a curling tool only, the wire being left out of the figure to facilitate the showing of the curling curve. The curlingcurve 53 formed in the body of the tool 54 can be thought of as being generally similar to that disclosed in Fig. 11 but comprising part of an edge slot running diagonally to the surface of the section in which it is placed but wherein the section in which the clot comprising the curve is formed itself has a curved surface rather than a plane surface. The structure can be thought of as formed by producing an arcuate slot in a fiat section of metal, and then twisting the section to curve its previously fiat sides to define a compoundly curved surface. Such a curling curve comprises, in effect, a curve formed by the juncture of a cylinder and curve in which the latter is of constantly changing radius. This curve is of such a nature that a plane surface will not bisect it but it may be bisected by a curved surface, preferably one of constantly shifting arc of curvature but suitably comprising also a section of an arc.

The curve shown in Fig. 16 may be employed to produce a structure like that shown in Fig. 15.

I have described my invention in detail to permit those skilled in the art to practice the. same, but my invention is limited only by the scope of the claims defining the same.

What I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. Apparatus for curling fiat wire comprising a curling curve over which the wire is adapted to be bent, stationary resilient pressure means for holding the wire bent across the curling curve to bend the same, means for delivering the wire in a slack condition to the curling curve, and means for continuously drawing the wire across the curling curve and from between the curling curve and pressure means, whereby to continuously impart a bend along the length of the wire and curl the same.

2. Apparatus for curling flat wire comprising a curling tool having a curved edge slot, a resilient pad holding said wire against a margin of said slot and means for drawing the wire across said curling tool while so held by the pad to curl the same, the said curved edge slot, resilient pad and drawing means being so constructed and arranged as to bend said wire more along part of its cross section than another, whereby to curl the wire while leaving a non-brittle area therein.

3. Apparatus for curling fiat wire comprising means for delivering the flat Wire to be curled to a curling tool while maintaining said wire in a slack condition, a curling tool over which the wire is adapted to be bent, stationary resilient pressure means for holding the wire bentacross said curling tool to bend said wire, and means,-

to a curling curve while maintaining said wirev in. a slack condition, a curling curve over which the wire is adapted to be bent, stationary resilient pressure means for holding the wire against said curling curve to bend said wire, the curling curve being shaped so that the flat wire, as it isdrawn thereover, is subjected to a pressure greater against at least one edge than at the center there-.- of whereby to impart to the wire a tendency to curl, and means, spaced from said stationary re-' silient pressure means, for continuously drawing the wire across said curling curve and between said curling curve and said stationary resilient pressure means, whereby said wire is maintained in a substantially taut condition between said stationary resilient pressure means and said means for drawing the wire across the curling curve, whereby, after passing said last-mentioned means, curling of the wire takes place.

5. The method of curling relatively flat wire which comprises feeding said wire continuously between and in contact with a curling curve and a stationary resilient pad whereby said wire is caused to bend sharply against said curling curve,

said wire engaging said curling curve at at least one edge of said Wire but not across the entire area thereof whereby to embrittle only edge portions of the cross section of the wire, and continuously drawing the wire across said curling curve.

FRANCIS D. MORAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file'of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 18,576 Sedgley Aug. 23, 1932 908,255 Hardman Dec. 29, 1908 1,100,809 Wilson June 23, 1914 1,360,403 Hollarn et al. Nov. 30, 1920 1,689,093 Wolle Oct. 23, 928. 1,790,218 Appleby Jan. 27, ,1931' 1,959,104 Mahan May 15,1934- 2,056,213 Sedgley Oct. 6, 1936', 2,138,787 Gottschalk et al. Nov. 29, 1938 2, 76,872 Hennessy Oct. 24,1939 2,196,076 Moran Apr. 2, 1940, 2,301,960 Lermont Nov. 17, 1942, 2,337,047 Hunter Dec. 21, 1943 2,370,215 Wilson Feb. 27, 1945 2,395,651 1946 Anderson Feb. 26, 

